Letters, April 7: One can't predict the next mass murderer

MISSION VIEJO, Burl Estes, retired deputy district attorney: As a former deputy district

In this March 12, 2013 file photo, James Holmes, left, and defense attorney Tamara Brady appear in district court in Centennial, Colo. for his arraignment. Court documents are raising new questions for the university that Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes attended before the July 20 theater shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured. (AP Photo)

attorney, I know the difficulties involved in committing someone who has obvious mental problems and may be potentially dangerous ["Examine the link between drugs and violence," Letters, April 3]. They have "rights" which, under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, "entitle" them to live in the community.

Though Gov. Ronald Reagan signed that law into effect, Sacramento didn't follow up by funding group homes where such people could stay and be monitored to make sure they took their medications. Here's an example of the problem in New York City.

A violence-prone schizophrenic who refused to take her medicine pushed a man from India she had never met onto the subway tracks. He was killed. When she was confronted, she said she did it because she hated Muslims and Hindus.

She had been treated previously at a New York psychiatric hospital, and her mother had called the police at least five times due to violence at home. The woman had even assaulted a police officer. After having been arrested nine times, she was either released outright or allowed to plead guilty to assault and other charges without jail time or remand to a mental facility for treatment.

Her case is not exceptional, and there are many like her, ticking time bombs wandering around, just waiting to go off.

In the case of James Holmes, the Aurora, Colo., mass murderer, the only person who met him and refused to deal with him was a gun dealer, who suspected Holmes was mentally unbalanced, which he was.

Not every person suffering from schizophrenia, bipolarism or other mental problems is dangerous. But people with mental problems and violent tendencies who often refuse to take their medications should be monitored and kept away from dangerous weapons.

Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter, was one of those people whose mother was trying to get mental health treatment for him. He refused, killed her and used her legally owned firearms to commit the massacre at Sandy Hook School before killing himself. A universal background check requirement, had it been in effect at the time, would not have stopped that shooting spree.

The problem is that it is impossible to predict who might turn into a subway killer or school attacker. The solution is not more "comprehensive gun control laws" but more school security. Mass murderers go to schools because they know there will be no resistance that could stop their shooting sprees.

Remember Benghazi

NEWPORT BEACH, Ron Williams, U.S. Secret Service, retired: On Feb. 23, 2013, a ceremony was held at the Gettysburg Lodge, Gettysburg, Pa., to honor the lives of Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, the two former Navy SEALs who sacrificed their lives in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. The somber ceremony was attended by 50 former and active-duty Navy SEALs, together with a number of people who helped to provide funds for the families of Ty Woods and Glen Doherty.

As a participant at the event, I vowed not to let what happened in Benghazi to be "a bump in the road," as our president described the incident. The mainstream media has never investigated the facts and ignored the cover-up that has taken place.

The facts are that 13 separate terrorist incidents occurred within six months of the attack on Sept. 11, 2012. The State Department regional security officer requested additional upgraded security but was turned down at the State Department. Ambassador Christopher Stevens also requested additional security but was rebuked.

When the attack began, the CIA knew it was a planned attack perpetrated by a terrorist group closely aligned with al-Qaida.

We now know from the testimony of Leon Panetta, the acting Director of the CIA, that he had a conversation with the president at 5 p.m. to brief him on the attack. According to Panetta, he did not have another conversation with the president that night even though the attack lasted seven hours.

For two weeks Obama sent Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, out to blame the "incident" on a demonstration gone awry based on a B-grade video made by some obscure person in Los Angeles.

I recall when Watergate happened. The news media was like a rabid dog to uncover the circumstances. But no lives were lost in that second rate burglary.

Four Americans lost their lives when they could have been saved. I believe there was a cover up that took place to get Obama elected, which leaves me baffled as to why there is no outrage in America. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican you should be clamoring for justice and truth.

I vowed not to forget, and to keep the flame burning until the facts of this tragedy is factually documented. For me, Hillary Clinton, it matters.

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